Rohingya Man Shares Account of 14-Year-Old Nephew Forcibly Recruited by Militant Arakan Army

A Rohingya man using the name Pacifist Farooq posted on Facebook on 25 October 2026 describing the reported forced recruitment of his 14-year-old nephew by the militant Arakan Army.

According to the post, the boy was taken from Buthidaung Township earlier this year. He is now reportedly being sent to Sittwe, where clashes between the militant Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military are ongoing.

Farooq wrote that his nephew is carrying a gun instead of schoolbooks. He said the child is being sent to the battlefield when he should be in a classroom learning and growing up like other children.

In the post, Farooq questioned what the boy is being made to fight for. He asked whether the child understands the meaning of the war and what he would be dying for if he is killed. He described the armed group as one that denies the Rohingya identity and treats them as outsiders.

Farooq expressed deep pain as an uncle and said he can only hope that the boy survives and gets a chance to live a normal life.

Rohingya Monitor presents this as a personal account shared on social media. Reports of forced recruitment of Rohingya youth and sending them to the frontline of the war by militant Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State continue to raise serious concerns about the protection of the Rohingya children.

The Rohingya Monitor has found similar information of hundreds of young children who were forcibly recruited from every community and are being used both in the frontlines and across the villages as security forces.